This is the welcoming post at imagine2046.ai2last.org, a new campaign sponsored by LeaderSEA Coaching and Consulting Limited.
　
ai2last means AI TO LAST and is read as "[ai] to last".
　
ai2last is an acorn (a seed) offered by daniel-kin@leadersea (http://daniel-kin.leadersea.org).
　
In this acorn, there are two major concepts, AI and TO LAST. AI, the acronym of "Appreciative Inquiry", is a global movement. It was firstly coined by David Cooperrider and initially used in the domain of organizational development (OD). David noted in his Ph.D study that the questions he asked in his interviews were fateful. How he framed his questions did not only bring quite different answers, but also lead to very different emotions, generate different levels of energy and cultivate very different relationships. His discovery has been confirmed by various researchers, practitioners and even lay people. And thorough theoretical framework and a set of strategies and tools have been further developed. However, as a participant in my workshop commented, AI is simple and easy to use. For me,we need an A-eye for the new PAGE (being Positive, Affirmative, Generative and Energizing) of human history. (Actually AI is not something new. It has been used by our ancestors, e.g. tribal leaders in Africa, Confucius, etc.)
　
TO LAST, on the other hand, is not that big, i.e. with a long history and a global impact. It is obviously an acronym made by me. TO LAST means Learning, Achieving, Savoring and Transcending for and with The Others. It was a concept originally framed for leadership development, like leaderSEA (Systemizing, Empathizing and Awakening). In this concept, both TO and LAST are crucial. Sometimes, I may tend to over-emphasize The Others. And I have to admit that I need to explain the concepts embedded in LAST more thoroughly, though I prefer to highlight the connection of TO to what Confucius named [ren] and what Martin Buber called I-You. To quote Jane Watkins, a world renowned OD and AI champion, "it is not about me", though in a Confucian way, it will always come back to ME(反求諸己)!
　
AI, if taken as phonetic symbols [ai], will be read as "love" in putonghua. ai2last bears the meaning of "love to last".
　
For an acorn, to last forever as an acorn is a tragedy. An acorn, given good soil, right weather and enough time, would grow healthily into an oak tree, a type of huge and strong wood.
　
ai2last is an acorn, while Imagine2046 may be the oak tree. ai2last can be offered by daniel-kin, but Imagine2046 must be a collective work by ME TOO …. Imagine2046 cannot be done by ME alone, or by The Others only. It must be activated, constructed and actualized by ME and TO and many more others (i.e. ME TOO…) together. In 2046, I may not be there. So, it is surely not about me. However, tomorrow is made today. So, it again comes back to ME TOO….
　
2046 may be a year for your generation, for your daughter’s generation, or for your grandson’s generation. No matter what, 2046 is made today by YOU, and of course ME TOO….